Tear strip band



H. A. BURNS TEAR STRIP BAND Nov. 7, 1939.

Filed June 19, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet l H. A. BURNS TEAR STRIP BAND Nov. 7,1939.

Filed June 19, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Gttorncg Patented Nov. 7, 1939UNITED STATES PATENT OFFE International Cigar Machinery Company, a

corporation of New Jersey Application June 19, 1936, Serial No. 86,120

6 Claims.

This application is a continuation in part of my co-pending application,Serial No. 722,959, filed April 28, 1934.

This invention relates to packages wherein articles are enveloped inheat sealable Cellophane or similar heat plastic coated material andsealed, a novel tear strip enfolded within the Cellophane envelop and anovel film of material from which the tear strips may be cut.

The main object of the invention is to facilitate the removal of thesealed envelop from the cigar. This object is achieved by placing astrip of suitable sheet material or a piece of string within the envelopand so sealing the same that the end of such strip or string protrudesfrom the longitudinal seam of the package so that the envelop may easilybe torn open by pulling on said protruding end. The tear strip may be soshaped and decorated that it can be used as a substitute for a standardcigar band, thereby obtaining the advantage that upon tearing open thepackage both the band and the envelop are removed and destroyed in oneeasy operation and without injury to the relatively fragile cigarandsaving the cost of the cigar band.

A further object of the invention is to provide a tear strip formed ofsheet material coated with heat plastic material and its outer faceprinted to simulate a cigar band. Of course it will be understood thatheat sealable Cellophane or other suitable transparent or opaque, coatedor uncoated material may be used for the tear strip. By use of a tearstrip having a heat plastic coating, the operation of heat sealing thelongitudi- 85 nal seam will securely seal the tear strip therein so thatwhen the protruding end of the strip is grasped the strip cannot bepulled out as in prior packages, without rupturing the wrapper. Withthese and other objects not specifically mentioned 40 in view, theinvention consists in certain constructions and combinations hereinafterfully described and then specifically set forth in the claims hereuntoappended. In the accompanying drawings which form a part of thisspecification and in which like characters of reference indicate thesame or like part:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an enveloped cigar bottom up, the end ofthe tear strip protruding from the longitudinal seam of the 50 envelop;

Fig. 2 is a similar view of a cigar package face up, the tear stripbeing printed to simulate a cigar band;

55 Fig. 3 is a similar view of a cigar package in which a separate to atear strip;

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic showing of apparatus for wrapping cigars andsevering tear strips from a film and enfolding the same within the wrap-5 D Fig. 5 is a sectional side view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 4;and

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the tear strip web.

In carrying the invention into effect there is 10 provided a novelpackage comprising a wrapper enfolded about an article and having itslongitudinal edg'es overlapped to form a seam and a tear strip heldbetween the article and wrapper, one end of the tear strip protrudingfrom the." seam, and the outer seam edge may be nicked at either side ofthe strip if desired. To this end a web of wrapping material is fedalong and in front of a folding pocket, a film of plastic-coatedmaterial is fed transversely of the pocket in the W front of the web,and a wrapper blank and tear strip are severed from the web and film,respectively. Thereupon, an article is pushed sidepocket, whereby thearticle is enwrapper and the tearing band is 255 the article and thewrapper, and the longitudinal edges of the wrapper are folded intooverlapping relation to form a seam from which the tear strip protrudes.

The particular packages selected to illustrate 0 the invention are but afew of many possible concrete embodiments of the same. The invention,therefore, is not to be restricted to the specific packages shown anddescribed.

The wrapping material which may be heat sealable Cellophane or othersuitable transparent or opaque material is fed intermittently in theform of a web W from a reel R by means of a pair of feed rollers I 0into the guide channels I l and I2, whereupon a length according to thesize 40 of the cigar to be wrapped is cut from web W by means of anoscillating knife I 3. The latter is mounted on an arm I 4 fast to ashaft l5, and one of the feed rollers I0 is keyed to a shaft l8. Bothshafts l5 and I 6 are operated in properly v timed relation from themain drive of a wrapping machine as will be presently described.

The film S is fed from a reel T crosswise of the web W (Fig. 4) by meansof a pair of feed rollers I! mounted on shafts I8. In order to assureproperly timed relation between feed rollers l0 and feed rollers l1, oneof the shafts I8 is equipped with a bevel gear l9 meshing with a bevelgear 20 on the shaft Hi to which is keyed the roller l0.

cigar band is used in addition into a folding pocket 30 ing the wrapperwhen In case the material of the film S is transparent or translucentand provided with printed matter or labels as contemplated in one formof the invention, the film 8 is led through a photoelectric device 2|for the purpose of registering the design on the strip 8 with the web W.The photo-electric device 2! consists of an incandescent lamp on oneside of the film S and a photoelectric cell on the other side of thesame, the lamp projecting a beam of light through the film onto thephotoelectric cell, so that when a printed area obstructs the beam asuitable relay, not shown, in circuit with the photo-electric cellcloses the circuit of an electromagnet 22, thus energizing the latterand thereby operating a clutch fork 23 engaging with a standard frictionclutch 23a splined on one driven shaft i3 and disengaged from thecorresponding feed roller I! when the clutch fork is operated uponenergize.- tion of the electromagnet. The film is guided into thephoto-electric device 2| by means of guide rollers 24.

' The cigars C to be wrapped are delivered one by one by means of pusherfingers 26 (Fig. 5), from a feed table 250 to a pair of oscillatingtransfer arms 26 and 21 supported and operated by shaft 28 actuated fromthe main drive of the wrapping machine, which may be of the typedisclosed in the co-pending application of R. J. Beutel S. N. 487,080,filed October 7, 1930. Fingers 25 are attached to an endless chain 29also driven from the main drive of the wrapping machine. Transfer arms26 and 21 coact to push the cigar with the cut tear strip and thewrapper blank of the wrapping machine. The tear strip is cut at themoment the cigar touches the same, by means of an angularly mounted pairof scissors 3| pivoted on stud 32 and actuated from a lever 33 (Fig. 4)mounted on shaft ii. To scissors 3| are attached a pair of nlckingknives 34 which provide the cut wrapper blank with nicks N at its outerseam edge on both sides of the tearing band or strip S in order to givethe same an easier start for tearthe protruding end or tab E of the tearstripS is grasped to remove the envelop from the cigar. After the cigarcarries the tear strip and the wrapper blank into the folding pocket 30a pair of folding plates 35 and 36 fold the longitudinal edges of thewrapper into overlapping relation to form the longitudinal seam fromwhich the tear strip protrudes. In the next stage these edges are heatsealed to each other and to the tear strip protruding therefrom, ifplastic coated tear strip material is employed.

As described in the specification of the application referred to abovethe ends of the wrapper are closed by tucking the same and folding themback and heat sealing them to the wrapper, although the wrapper ends maybe other suitable manner.

Among the other advantages of a tear strip and package formedinaccordance with the in vention is the fact that the simulation of thecigar band on the outer face of the tear strip will preventdiscoloration of the cigar with ink, bronze or other material of itsmedallion, as when the indicia were printed on the under face of thewrapper as heretofore. Furthermore, by impressing the simulated cigarband on the outer face of the strip, it will have a clearer and morelustrous appearance than if it were impressed on the under face of atransparent tear strip, by reason of the fact that only one layer ofmaterial covers the indicia.

closed in any- If desired, the protruding tab E may bear indiciadesignating that it may be grasped to tear open the wrapper. For thispurpose, the portions of the film S intermediate the cigar bandssimulated thereon may have the requisite indicia impressed thereon. Theparticular indicia chosen for this purpose may comprise a legend, anarrow, or both, as illustrated herein.

The particular process by which the simulated cigar band and the indiciaon the protruding tab are impressed on the film S may be widelyvaried inpractice, although it may preferably comprise printing rows ofsimulated, equally spaced cigar bands on the sheet of tear stripmaterial and slitting the same to provide webs from which the tearstrips may be severed. The indicia on the tab adjacent the overlap endsof the simulated cigar bands may be impressed simultaneously with theprinting of the cigar bands. In case of plastic coated material such asheat scalable Cellophane", there are known processes by which the bronzeand ink which constitute the cigar band may be applied.

It may be noted that the distance between the centers of the cigar bandssimulated on the film S may, if desired, be equal to the girth of thecigar plus an allowance for overlap plus a substantial additionaldistance for forming a tear tab; Furthermore, the unprinted areasbetween ,the' simulated cigar bands, in the case of transparentmaterial, may be utilized for photoelectric registering purposes. Tothis end, as mentioned above, the printed film S is guided between theincandescent lamp and the photoelectric cell of the photoelectric device2!. Thus the beam of light from the lamp will pass through thetransparent areas of the film and set up a current in the photoelectriccell which will control the electromagnet 22 in such a manner that thecircuit through the same will be kept open until the beam is obstructedby a printed cigar band, whereupon the electromagnet will be energizedand the feeding of the film interrupted. Of course it will be understoodthat the printed film may be used in other types of machines besidesthat illustrated herein.

As illustrated in Fig. 6, the distance a between the centers of thesimulated cigar bands may be equal to the girth of the cigar or otherarticle to be wrapped, plus an allowance for overlapping plus asubstantial additional distance for forming a tear tab. In the form ofthe invention exemplified therein the length of the simulated cigar bandis suflicient to encompass the girth of the cigar, in the desired lappedrelation. The length of each of the tear strips extending betweenconsecutive lines of cut 0 is equal to this distance between the centersof the simulated cigar bands, and on each of the tear strips thus outthere will be a tear tab having a length indicated by the bracket (1projecting from the overlap end of the tear strip, on which suitableindicia are impressed as illustrated in Fig. 6. If desired, however, theallowance for the tear tab may be dispensed with and the line of cut mayextend diagonally from a portion of the film-S lyirm within one cigarband to a similar portion lying within the length of the next cigarband.

What is claimed is:

l. A web of material having cigar bands simulated by a positive imprintthereon at equal intervals to extend lengthwise of the web, the lengthof the simulated cigar bands being sufflcient to encircle the cigar withthe ends thereof in lapped relation and the spaces between saidsimulated cigar bands being suflicient to provide a tearing tab uponsevering the web with a line of cut extending obliquely from a portioncoextensive with one cigar band to a portion coextensive with anadjacent cigar band, said spaces being provided with indicia disposed tolie on the tapered tab resulting from said oblique severance of the weband designating that the tab may be grasped and pulled. a

2. A tear strip web for use in tear strip packaging 'of cigarscomprising a narrow strip of transparent regenerated cellulose ofuniform width narrower than the length of a cigar and having spacedpositive printed areas in simulation of a cigar band thereon extendinglengthwise of the strip a distance equal to the girth of the cigar plusan allowance for overlap, said strip having a substantially transparentunprinted area between the printed areas which may be used forphotoelectric registering purposes, the lengths of the unprinted areasbeing sufiicient to provide a tear tab upon severing the web obliquelybetween the bands and indicia in the areas between the ends of theprinted areas disposed to lie on the tab resulting upon severance of theweb for indicating the location of and part to be pulled of the tear tabwhen the strip is applied to a package, said strip having a heatsealable coating on its printed face for securing the-same to thepackage wrapper.

3. A tear strip web for use in tear strip packaging comprising a narrowstrip of transparent regenerated cellulose of uniform width havingspaced positive printed areas thereon in simulation of cigar bandsextending lengthwise of the strip and spaced apart a distance betweencenters of the printed areas substantially equal to the girth of thecigar, plus an allowance for overlapping, plus a substantial additionaldistance for forming a tear tab upon severing the web obliquely betweenthe bands, said strip-having printed-thereon an indicia for indicatingthe tear tab part to be pulled when the strip is applied to the package,said strip having a heat sealable coating on its printed face forsecuring the same to the package wrapper.

4. A tear strip web for use in tear strip packaging comprising a narrowstrip of transparent regenerated cellulose of uniform width havingspaced positive printed areas thereon in simulation of cigar bandsextending lengthwise of the strip and spaced apart a distance betweencenters of the printed areas substantially equal to the girth of thecigar plus an allowance for overlapping, said strip having printedthereon an indicia for indicating the tear tab part to be pulled whenthe strip is applied to the package, said strip having a heat sealablecoating for securing the same to the package wrapper, the bandsimulating printing being on the coated side of the strip so that theprinted side of the band may be heat sealed to the packaging material.

5. The process of manufacturing tear strips comprising forming spacedpositive imprints simulating cigar bands on one face of a narrowtransparent Web coated with heat sealable material, with the cigar bandsextending lengthwise of the web and of an extent suificient to encompassthe girth of a cigar with the ends of the cigar band in lapped relation,and severing the web obliquely intermediate the cigar bands with theline of cut extending from a portion coextensive with one cigar band toa portion coextensive with an adjacent cigar band to form a pointed teartab on the overlap ends of the tear strips so severed from the web.

6. The process oimanufacturing tear strips comprising forming spacedpositive imprints on one face of a transparent web coatedwith heatsealable material, said imprints simulating cigar bands and being of alength sufficient to encompass the girth of a cigar with the ends of thecigar band in lapped relation, and the distances between centers ofadjacent cigar bands being equal to the length of the cigar bands plusan allowance for forming a tear tab, severing the web obliquelyintermediate adjacent cigar bands to provide pointed tear strips at theoverlap ends of the tear strips so severed from the web, and imprintingindicia on portions of the web intermediate the cigar bands which willlie adjacent theapices of the pointed tabs on the severed strips.

HERBERT A. BURNS.

